How to Make Chocolate (or pb) Chip Cookies

Nom nom nom...

Right here, I would normally try to come up with a witty explanation that expresses how amazing these scookies are. But I'm too busy thinking about their sweet, buttery goodness.

They're a cross between your favorite childhood chocolate chip cookies and buttery scones.

Isn't that explanation enough?

I say this because I care about all of you. Go make these now. (Actually, wait for the recipe and then go make these.)

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Chocolate Chip Scookies


Yields about 32 cookies

Adapted from Cooking Light and Joy of Baking


Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup stevia/sugar blend
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1t baking soda
1/2t salt
1t vanilla extract (I didn't have any, so I used almond extract and it worked really well)
1/4-1 c chocolate chips of choice (depending on how chip-y you like it, see below for what I used)
1/2c unsweetened almond milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of a mixer (a large bowl if using a hand mixer) beat butter until pretty smooth.

 Add stevia/sugar blend and cream until fluffy.

 Add extract.

 Beat until Incorporated.

 Meanwhile, put flours, baking soda, and salt in a bowl...

...and mix until thoroughly combined.

 When I added the dry mixture to the wet mixture, there was way too much dry and it got all crumbly.

So I added the 1/2c almond milk, and we were back in business.

Add the chips. I only had peanut butter chips on hand, so that's what I used. They'd probably work better with chocolate chips like they were intended to, but the Pb chips were reeeeeaaaaally good too. ;)

Stir on low speed just until the chips are distributed. (Lick the beater. ;)  )

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper, and spray again with nonstick spray. (I really don't want these to stick.)

Stick them in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, but my oven is pretty weird, so just be vigilant. When I baked them, they really didn't spread out very much, but they actually puffed up instead. Huh.

So I had to do them in two batches,

so this time I flattened them with a fork, and they baked much better. They still puffed up, but no as much.

They taste like cookies, they pretty much are cookies, but they kinda look like scones, and their texture is somewhat similar to scones, so ta da! We have sconies.

So, no, I don't have a picture of the second batch. Like I said, they were really good, and a picture just didn't happen. *Lick fingers* ;)

OK, you've got the recipe. Now you can go make these.

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.

How to make Stevia/Sugar Blend

OK guys, this one is very simple.

I love baking, but not all the sugar, butter, etc. that goes along with it. "Light" baking is interesting.

Baking is a science. Light baking is different.

Scary different.

I love stevia, but I find using it in baked goods makes the finished product taste diet-y, which can be a living nightmare. I am not on a diet, nor do I encourage diets. I hate "diet food" and do not believe it should ever be consumed by anyone. Ever.

So I made brownies today with stevia, and when I tested them on my mom, she was less than enthusiastic. She gave them a "oh they're nice, sweetie" review which just won't cut it for me. When I pressed her further, (sorry mom!) she said they're good for diet food.

I tried (unsuccessfully) to keep my horrified reaction on the inside.

Diet food? I don't make diet food. Ew.


So I sucked up my pride, and bought some real, raw cane sugar. (Hey, if I'm going to eat real sugar, it should at least be the minimally processed stuff.)

So I kinda chickened out. Instead of using total real sugar, I mixed it in a 1:1 ratio with the stevia.

So it worked a lot better than using stevia alone. I have a feeling this mix is going to go much farther than stevia has gone before, and will probably end up in recipes to come. I'll post the recipe for the cookies I made with the mix soon.

Stevia/Sugar Mix


Ingredients

1/4 cup stevia
1/4 cup raw cane sugar

Combine both ingredients in a bowl and mix well. (Simple, huh?)

So like I said, I'll be back with my first stevia/sugar mix cookies recipe tomorrow.

Can you handle the suspense?

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.

Strawberry Oat Squares Take 1

Um...

OK, hear me out. I can explain.

So I woke up at 1 pm here. Yeah, that's late, I know. But it's summer and I'm pretty sure it was a weekend when this happened. There's some justification in that, right? (Let's pretend. Please go along with it.)

I made some breakfast (which can take awhile,) I ate it, and then it was 3 pm.

Maybe I do need a better story.

Anyway, this is the truth. So at 3 pm, Mom and I need to go to the grocery store to pick up supplies. We're going to a 4th of July concert with some family friends who are coming to our house at 5 pm, and it's a potluck. I decide I'm going to make brownies based on this recipe. (P.S. Angela, you rock!)

So by the time we get ready and to the grocery store, it's 3:40 pm. We get out at like 4:18 pm, I think. (Which could easily be record time for us at a grocery store.)

We get home, and I dash up to my room and get the receipt from Angela's web site. Oh no.

Did I fail to notice the 1.5 hrs. of chilling time that could not possibly happen when I'm so late so they would be sitting in 90 degree weather?

Of course I did.

Great.

So I spend another 20 minutes routing through the site, so come up with this recipe. Naturally, I would change a few things, but what could go wrong?

I mean, I have 20 minutes before they get here.

I'm only trying a recipe I haven't made before that is supposed to bake for 30 minutes plus cooling time.

Don't say it. I know.


Fiasco-ed Strawberry Oat Squares with Homemade Jam


Adapted from Oh She Glows


1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1/2 cup stevia (this is what I use)
1/4 cup liquid egg whites (or about 2 actual egg whites)
1 small container of unsweetened/ no sugar added applesauce
2T unsweetened almond milk (click here or here for brands)
1T unsweetened shredded coconut
2 baskets strawberries, chopped
stevia, to taste

 Mash strawberries (with a potato masher) until juicy and jammy.

 Boil for 10-20 minutes, considering how thick or strong you like your jam. (The longer it cooks, the more it reduces for heightened flavor. At some point, it does stop thickening and start burning, so be careful.)

Meanwhile, while dry ingredients exceptt coconut (flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and stevia) in a large bowl. Mix together wet ingredients (egg whites, applesauce, almond milk) into a small to medium bowl. Add wet ingredient to dry ingredients and mix well without over mixing.

Totally ignore the baking temperature because you're almost out of time. I baked this at 450 degrees, but it clearly should be 350. (Just like the original said you should.)
I was told we were late, so I just pulled them out of the oven after 10-15 minutes of baking, and decided to call it a "crisp" instead of "bars." Yeah, okay.
It was really underdone, but it was good. I plan to remake the bars and bake them at the correct temperature for the correct amount of time and let you know how it goes. 

So when we get there, we're actually not late. Oh well, It was really fun anyway and I got a compliment on my "crisp." *Sarcastic laughter*
That's my friend Christine. (She's on the left, I'm on the right.)

This is what was left of the "crisp." (Okay, I'll stop now.)
In my defense, it didn't have any serving utensil some maybe people wanted it, but simply couldn't get it.

I guess you don't have to play along anymore, but you have to admit, it was kinda fun. :)

I took some nice pics of the fireworks, but the Internet is in a bad mood so it would take me a long, long time to upload everything. I plan to do it later in the week.

By the way, I stuck the leftovers in the freezer (and they taste great.) Sometimes I crumble about half of one on my oatmeal.

You guys, my patient readers, are awesome. (I hope I didn't use readers in the plural for nothing.) ;)

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.